Shades of Grey
by MajesticHippo
Summary: I can handle dying, eventually. I can handle being stuck in a wheat field for my afterlife, hopefully. I can't handle dying, being stuck in a wheat field and then being reborn as a freaking demigod! Whoever is responsible for this better watch out because I have every intention of opening a can of whoopass on them. SI/OC
1. The Afterlife is a wheat field,joy

**Disclaimer for all chapters:I don't own Percy Jackson that honour belongs to Rick Riordan**

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><p>Grey, grey,grey oh look a slightly darker shade of grey. I will tell you something there are way more than 50 shades of grey, in my time here I have made up names for over 487…make that 488 I'll call this one campfire-grey-but-slightly-darker-than-pebble-grey grey.<p>

My vision was just plagued by grey everything and I was sick of it! A grey sky lurked over the field, fat and unnatural,grey wilted poplar trees studded the landscape, with grey broken stalagmites creating grey hazards in the grey world and grey wheat stalks that looked just a decrepit as the grey inhabitants of said grey field. Ah yes the inhabitants, the zombies,the ghouls,los fantasmas,the ghosts were the worst aspect of this Hell. They were inconsiderate always walking through me, boring and worst of all grey.

I always thought the afterlife would be at least slightly more interesting maybe a theme park, endless supplies of food, books, a decent conversationalist, I don't know maybe having a joyous reunion with my dead loved ones while skipping through a field of flowers with violins playing in the background! But no I was forced to wonder a freaking grey wheat field from fucking Kansas for eternity.

The smell of BBQ wafted over from 'Party central', laughter could be heard from behind the gilded walls as I wondered through the fields. I hated that laughter, bastards the lot of them. Whenever I tried to walk over there the fugly bat harpies would appear, screeching and hissing and waving around their whips like some sort of demented helicopter till I returned to my afterlife of the wheat field. Joy.

I don't know how long I have been here, I lost count after 20 something years, its been a while since I lost count. But what was weird was the clothes of the dead ghost, I could not find for the life of me…. I mean could not find for the AFTERlife of me find someone with 21st century clothing, it was all togas and hoop skirts and cravats and top hats. There was no chucks or leather jackets or hoodies to be seen hell I couldn't find any tied dyed shirts or sneakers! I would of thought there would have been at least some sneakers. But no, from what I could see of the apparent dress code I was stuck in hell in the 1940's or something. We had gone through the 20's and there where a couple of dead soldiers but I couldn't tell if they where from WW1 or 2. But I have chalked it up to me being placed in the wrong section or something. Right?

Regardless of the disturbing thought of being in the past and in the underworld the thing I hate most was there was no one to talk. If I tried to start a conversation with one they would just stare blankly at me like a blob fish,groan then float through me.

It was official I hated begin dead. I can't even remember my name or how I died! It was weird the important things of my past life like my family and friends are starting to fade but the most useless facts remain clear as day like the fact that I loved broccoli and had an obsession with sour skittles but hated chocolate. That I loved dogs and had a pet snake called Smudge but despised birds with a passion. I could even remember by favourite book series but I couldn't remember my family or anything about my personality! I could remember things I liked or disliked but not why. I couldn't remember any defining memories and aren't our personalities defined my our environment and interaction? If I couldn't even remember those then who was I? It frustrated me and I hated the memories I did have I felt like I was betraying my family and friends by remembering such useless facts.

No one else in 'Perpetually Grey wheat field' seemed to remember anything. They would look at me with lifeless eyes and yes I realise they…we are dead but it was like they have never lived at all, no memories of who they were, just a reflection of the person they once is the thing that scares me most is that I will eventually forget everything that defines me as me, that I will end up another mindless grey ghost wondering a grey field endlessly.

I try so hard to keep myself, singing every song I can remember, describing things that I do remember. Commenting on absolutely everything and trying to find someone like me,someone that remembered. It was during one of my daily singing seasons that it happened.

I was cartwheeling forward singing, regardless of the ghost blocking my way, I have to entertain myself somehow, when it happened the momentous, stupendous, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, fantastic event. Someone spoke.A sentence, a sentence made up of glorious english!

"Do you mind, Im trying to get over the fact I'm dead here!"

I don't think you understand how ground breaking this is, I have been subjected to listening to only moans and blank stares for my entire afterlife. The harpies and the judge dudes who put me hear (haven't done anything worth while in my life my ass, I will have you know I ran a half marathon,for charity!) being the only people I have heard speak. The 'human' part is subjective cause the bat-things, I think they called themselves Furies, do not classify as human and the judges are freaking a-holes. I guess you could count the laughter from party central but their bastards too for not sharing their BBQ.

Anyway some spoke, a ghost spoke, a ghost from the Kansas wheat field. You can probably deduce I was shocked which makes my consequent face plant completely excusable. Quickly picking myself up, one of the benefits of being dead is the fall didn't hurt, and turned towards the voice like a dog who is going to get a piece of jerky.

It was a girl, but she wasn't a grey like the other ghosts or me, she had colour although it was dim. She was crouched on the ground her arms wrapped tightly around her legs glaring up at me through thick black hair.

I think me staring at her like a guppy got on her nerves for I was snapped out of my observations by her angry voice.

"What are you looking at? Stupid ghost."

I was mildly offend from that statement but it was quickly squashed by my amazement that she was actually talking!

"You..you..you're not grey" I managed to stutter out whilst jumping up from my kneeling position. She looked at me with a mixture of confusion and anger that I had interrupted her depression with such a retarded comment. Good going the first human you meet that isn't grey and can actually talk and you mess it up.

Then the girl seemed to realise that I had talked because the next thing I knew she lunged at me with wonder and desperate hop in her eyes. I braced my self for the awful feeling of having someone go through you. But she didn't I could feel her strong grip on my arms. We both stared done at her hands in amazement.

"You can touch me"

"I can touch you"

Mirroring grins stretched across our faces, finally someone that can fill my grey existence with colour.

I had to know, know if she could remember her life like me, maybe I wasn't completely alone anymore.

"Do..do you remember?"

She fervently nodded her head still staring at her hands on my arms.

"Do you remember your name?"

It was then that the girl finally look up at me. I dimly noted that she had gold eyes.

"Hazel my name is Hazel Levesque"


	2. Asphalt, Asphodel and Alaska

Hazel was the best thing to ever happen to me in this afterlife. She kept me sane, brought me back to reality when I would scream and cry and rage at the unfairness of it all. She was someone to talk to and confide in. We were each other's support in this grey world, and told each other about our lives. It was when Hazel started mention gods, monster and Alaska that I started to become sceptical.

She told me how the wheat field from Kansas was Fields of Asphalt or something, that 'Party Central' was apparently called Elysium I prefer Party Central Population Bastards. That we were in the Underworld that was ruled Pluto who was her Daddy Dearest.

Yes P-L-U-T-O, which just gave me this image of a sad little planet (its still a plant in my mind) with a cape and scepter floating in the sky. But apparently Hazel just had to pop my fantasy and say that she was referring to the Roman God Pluto, yeah I took that with a grain of salt at first. Then suddenly monsters and gods and moving mountains become real. I felt my laughter was completely justify.

"Pffft… Pluto is you pffftt is..is your Dad!" I choked out between my pathetic attempts to cover my laughter.

"Yes he is! I'm a demi-god!" Hazel spluttered indigently.

"So you're saying that the Roman Gods are real, that your Dad is currently ruling of the field of Asphalt-

"Fields of Asphodel!"

"Asphalt Asphodel potato potarto, that you're a demigod, that everything that goes bump in the night is real and the gods can't rule Alaska ?" Eyebrow cocked and arms crossed I stared at Hazel for confirmation.

"Yes, yes I am. Why are you so defensive about accepting this, I mean you've seen the Furies and Cerberus and crossed the river Styx, your in the Field of Asphodel for pities sake!"

"It's …just that….that argghh!" Frustrated that the words weren't coming to me I flopped onto the ground, sprawling out my limbs and stared at the swirling grey sky. But was it really a sky if the Underworld was supposedly underground? Is it a caverns roof? Mist? I'm getting side tracked.

"Why wont you believe me?" Gold eyes stared imploringly into mine.

Sighing I sat up. "Its just a lot to take in you know? I mean my whole life none of this" I waved my had at our surroundings "was real."

_You mean you only think it wasn't real how do you know the gods don't exist? You can't even remember your family or your own name!_ A nasty little voice in my head reminded me. Promptly telling it to shut up I got back to the conversation at hand.

"I guess it is just hard to take in, I don't want to accept that there is something or someone up their controlling everything. I mean what if they use their almighty powers to peek on people in the bathroom or something!" My hands by now were spastically gesturing at things that neither of us could see.

Hazel offered me an amused smile for my antics. "I know it's a lot to take in but I am telling you the truth". She adopted a thoughtful look before grabbing my hand and dragging me through the field of ghosts.

"Ack! Hazel! Slow down" Hazel's dragging resulted me tripping over nothing and going face first through a ghost that came out of no where like freaking David Copperfield. Going through a ghost is one of the only ways I feel anything, it was like being shoved through ice cold water that left the feeling of having cobwebs on you. It was NOT pleasant. Even if I was a ghost and apparently could float I was uncoordinated and still managed to trip over nothing.

Hazel paid my woes no mind and continued to drag me till she abruptly stopped. See we have to make it a conscious thought to be solid to each other, it was exhausting making your whole body solid so usually we just made certain parts of us as I only had my hand that was currently being dragged by Hazel solid when she suddenly stopped I went right through sounds of disgusted and exclamations of "AHHH Don't DO that" and " Arghhh get it of get it off!" escaped us."There's nothing on you, now stop jumping around like idiot and watch" Hazel admonished me, it was only then that I realised where we were and you or rather what was in front of us. Hazel had lead us right to the edge of the Field and in front of us was something out of a B-rated Horror movie. Ugly clawed feet, leathery skin, clawed bat wings, a wicked mouth full of sharp yellow teeth that reminded me of a shark and glowing eyes. Yep it was one of those demented Furies.

"Child of Pluto, _what_ are you doing." The thing growled at us as if a feral dog.

Hazel sent me a smirk over her shoulder at the child-of-Pluto-thing I answered the smirk with my own eye roll. I guess I would just have to go only with.

"I…I just want to know where I am and what do you mean child of Pluto?" The golden-eyed girl stuttered out as if she was afraid. I sent her a confused look this wasn't the Hazel I knew who had a backbone of steal.

The Fury seemed just as confused as me. But I guess the whole 'your bosses daughter' had its perks even in the afterlife, because the Fury answered.

"This is the underworld ruled by your farther, Pluto" God this bat lady needed Listerine because even if I was dead I could smell it. How the hell did that work, man being dead is so confusing!

"Wait you mean the Roman God Pluto? Their real?" Ohh I saw what Hazel was doing clever girl getting a third party to confirm her claims. But I guess the Fury's patience was running out because she flicked her whip flames licking along it in our faces.

"Yesssss now get back to the Field of Asphodel you stupid ghosts" The fugly biocht continued to flick and slash her whip around till we retreated like good little ghosties.

Hazel shot me a victorious smile once we back amongst the ghosts. Her eyes just challenging me to say something.

"OK!OK! I surrender almighty demigod please do not smite me with your mighty powers"I joked. But this trip had left me more unsettled than ever before because it seemed I would have to finally accept what was staring me in the face the whole time. That Roman gods were real. But it wasn't this that really disturbed be it was that this all seemed startlingly familiar but I couldn't place where I had heard of this before. That frustrated me and scared me because I was positive that the Roman Gods weren't as real in my life and something kept pestering me saying it was meant to be Greek and some guy called Perry not Hazel and Pluto.

Hazel laughed before adopting a thoughtful face.

"Oh no no no no!" I frantically waved my hands back and forth shaking my head.

"What I haven't even said anything."

"Because last time you got that look you dragged us to a meeting with one of those freaking Furies!"

"Hey I only did that because you weren't accepting the facts, anyway I was thinking we should find you a name."

"A name?" my voice sounded weak even to me filled with desperate longing and bitterness.

My friend gave me a the look you the one which just screams why-do-I-have-to-put-up-with-this-it-must-be-some-kid-of-divine-punishment "Well I cant just keep on calling you Ghostie or You, do you even realize how stupid I feel calling out Ghostie in a field of ghosts when I'm looking for you?"

I laughed at the image despite myself a smile slowly stretching across my face "Yeah that does sound stupid, I would…I would like that. A name I mean"

"Right so do you have any preferences? Penelope?" I pulled a face shaking my head.

"Yeah your right Penelope is far to elegant and pretty for you"

"Hey I take offence to that!"

"Alexandria, Michel, Rachael, Rebecca"

"No, no, no and ah no"

"Natasha? No that doesn't suit you at all. This is going to be harder than I originally thought"

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><p>"Maya….Lilly…Cleo ummmmmm Natasha?"<p>

"You've already said that" Both of us were sprawled on our backs our brains slowly running out of names each and everyone so far was rejected by either one of us of both.

"Well if you were at least trying to be helpful rather than being all mopey we would have gotten on by now" Molten eyes glared at me from the top of the stalagmite .

"Maybe I'm not meant to have a name! You ever thought of that. I'm not even supposed to remember myself! So we should just drop it, ill go back to being that random ghost freak who can talk and remember useless facts about her life! I'm not like you, you can remember everything! You can even see your mother -" A sharp slap cut me off.

"Don't …don't you EVER say that again. Its not like I asked to remember everything and don't you dare bring my mother into this" Hazels eyes looked a little wet as she glared at me before she turned away drawing her legs up to her chin.

Guilt twisted my gut as I crawled up the rock to Hazel "Hazel I'm sorry.. I just arghh you know I'm not good at this! I was just frustrated and I guess a little jealous I mean you have a name and you can remember all the facts about your life and I… I just cant its all blurring and its frustrating and scary. I'm forgetting things every day. I'm sorry for shouting at you and it was a pretty dick move of me to bring your mother into this. Hazel? Hazel please don't hate me I'm sorry please don't be mad. I don't know what I will do if I cant speak to you. Hazel please"

"It was a pretty dick move of you."

A relieved chuckle escaped my lips "Yeah, yeah it was. Still friends?"

Arms wrapped around me "Still friends"

I buried my face into her shoulder my shoulders shaking in relief. I was so afraid that Hazel would leave me and I would be left alone again. The touching moment was ruined by Hazel exclamation and suddenly shaking my shoulders.

"I got it! Asphodel"

"Yeah it's the wheat field that makes up our fun filled after life" that earned me a slap on my arm

"Your name how about Asphodel"

"You want to name me after a wheat want name me after a GREY wheat field from Kanasa." I was slightly offended she knew how much I hated the wheat field right?

"No not the wheat field, the flower. The Fields of Asphodel were originally filled with the flower Asphodel not wheat"

"What happened"

"The ghost kept eating them wheat was more cost effective" Hazel said completely serious.

"Your kidding right?"

"Nope" A grin formed on my closest friends face, it didn't matter if she was my only friend. " The flower is connected to death and Persephone and the flower is really beautiful, it was has greyish leaves but these bright yellow, white or pink flowers flowers."

"You saying I'm a grey leaf?" Strategically ignoring the beautiful part.

"No silly. I mean your like this splash of colour in this world of grey to me. Well no physically colourful' both looking down at my grey ghostly form "But your personality is really bright and vibrant sure you can be really grouchy and sorta mean and sarcastic and you can get really angry which is so scary and you go into these depressions' I coughed to stop her tirade I didn't need more reminding me of all my negative.

"Sorry …..but your always there for me to cheer me up and make me laugh…. I mean I can think of a different name if you don't like it" If we weren't both dead I would of sworn that Hazel would have been blushing while hiding behind her thick hair.

I felt touched that Hazel thought that of me. " I like it"

Eyes peered up at me through a bushy curtain. "You do?"

"Yup has a nice ring to it Asphodel, its also kinda ironic. I love it. Asphodel it is"

" Hi nice to meet you I'm Asphodel what's your name" I jokingly held out my hand to Hazel.

"I'm Hazel nice to meet you too Asphodel"

The grey Field of Asphodel were filled with our laughter, even the constant smell of BBQ from Elysium didn't bother me. I was finally content with my afterlife here as long as Hazel was here to share it with me. Who knows maybe someone else like us would arrive soon.

Little did I know that the feeling of content was about to be shattered and I wouldn't laugh for a long time.

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><p><strong>Hey all this chapter was a struggle to write the result is sorta seriously Dialogue is so hard! Next chapter is when things really start moving I'm super excited to start writing it :)<strong>

**Review are much appreciated and thanks to all those people who favourite and followed my story Asphodel flowers for you all.**


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